Recreational marijuana approved for 2016 ballot in Nevada

Recreational marijuana legalization will be on Nevada’s 2016 ballot after state officials verified that advocates secured enough signatures to automatically put the issue to voters.

Secretary of State Ross Miller certified that proponents submitted enough signatures to add the initiative to the ballot in two years, the Associated Press reported. The Nevada Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in November submitted almost 200,000 signatures, well beyond the 102,000 needed.

No opposition immediately emerged to the marijuana initiative, according to the AP.

The proposal would allow those 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana, as well as establish a regulatory structure for recreational sales. It would also impose a 15% tax on wholesale cannabis sales, while retail transactions would be taxed at existing sales tax rates.

Nevada already allows medical marijuana, and the state recently crafted regulations on MMJ businesses. So officials could look to those rules when crafting recreational marijuana regulations if the measure passes in 2016.

“The voters in Nevada clearly want a new approach to regulating marijuana,” Joe Brezny, the head of the Nevada Cannabis Industry Association, said in a statement. “They see that taxing and regulating marijuana … makes more sense than the failed policy of marijuana prohibition.”